On Black Wings
by Elements of the Psyche
Summary: FE9. After Princess Elincia regained her homeland, all was well. Ike and his mercenary group returned to Crimea to continue their work. But the flames of war are being fanned again, and odd things are afoot. Chapter 1: It begins...
1. Prologue: Resting Place

Disclaimer: Ah, how I wish FE was mine to manipulate. Sadly, though, that is not the case.

On Black Wings  
Prologue: The Resting Place

"You wished to see me?"

The hawk king stood in the doorway of the Kilvas Royal Chamber, regally as always. Behind him stood his two faithful retainers, Janaff and Ulki.

"Ah," King Kilvas said, as he stood, pushing back his well-groomed blue hair. "If it isn't the hawk king Tibarn! I have been waiting for quite a while, you know, your wings are not as they used to be."

Naesala took great pride in his appearance, proclaiming himself to be the "most dashing crow any beorc or laguz will see." His hair was always kept at its finest, and his black wings had an oily sheen to them. Behind him stood Nealuchi, the old crow that raised him from a hatchling, leaning on his walking stick.

"Cut the small talk, Naesala," Tibarn scowled. "If you wish something of me, tell me now so that I may be off and away from your tainted lands."

Naesala feigned a hurt expression. He exclaimed, "Hawk king, certainly you do not mean what you say! I am insulted at your accusations!"

Tibarn remained silent.

"Now, tell me, hawk king—or perhaps one of your retainers can," Naesala continued as he leaned towards Tibarn, "What seemed to be missing from my 'tainted lands?'"

Janaff spoke up, "I saw not a single black feather in the halls of your castle, King Kilvas, nor did I see a single crow flap his wings in the sun-painted sky."

"Precisely, Hawkeyes," said Naesala. He added with a touch of sarcasm, "You do live up to your reputation; certainly no normal laguz would have noticed!

"Yes, hawk king, your retainer is right. And that is why I have brought you here. Bring your eyes and ears and follow me."

With that, Naesala flapped his wings a few times, and flew through the open roof of the Kilvas Royal Chamber. Nealuchi followed, only muttering under his breath. As the two flew off, Tibarn turned to Ulki.

"What did he say, could you hear?" Tibarn asked.

"Even my ears could not hear the entire sentence," Ulki replied apologetically, "But I believe I heard the words Kilvas and bloodshed at some point. The rest was a bit jumbled."

"If you ask me," remarked Janaff, "That old crow looked a bit troubled to me."

"I will keep that in mind, Ulki, Janaff," said Tibarn as he took to the sky as well. "Naesala did not brag as much as usual either. Stay close by me. Whatever they're worried about, they must have reason to have invited us as well."

The journey was silent, except for the flapping of wings and the breath of the ocean. Tibarn did not know where Naesala was leading him, but it grew more and more unfamiliar with each passing minute. At one point, Janaff looked back to where they began, and reported that Kilvas Castle was nowhere in sight.

"I don't like this," Tibarn muttered. He shouted to the front, "Naesala, where are you taking us?"

Naesala said nothing for a while. He seemed to be deep in thought about something, or highly anxious, odd for King Kilvas.

_Or perhaps,_ Tibarn thought grimly, _He is thinking up the best lie to tell us_.

Finally, Naesala spoke, but the wind carried his voice away from Tibarn's ears. He turned to Ulki again.

"He says that he is taking us to the 'resting place,'" Ulki responded, "Your guess is as good as mine as to where or what that is."

"We arrive," Janaff reported. Tibarn looked ahead and saw one lone island in the middle of the ocean, to which Naesala and Nealuchi were descending. Tibarn followed suit, ordering Janaff and Ulki to stay by him.

As the wind whipped around them, Tibarn thought he heard the screech of a hawk, the kind of screech in a hawk's last dying moments, but he saw no other birds near.

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Naesala landed smoothly and silently, followed by Nealuchi, who was oddly not rambling on about something or other this time.

No matter, what's important is making sure that Tibarn and his two retainers were drained by the journey here. Naesala could feel himself breathing a bit hard.

And yet, as the three hawks landed, none of them even broke a sweat. Naesala cursed to himself in his mind (for he knew doing that aloud would catch Ulki's attention). However, he simply said, "Tibarn, if you would follow me alone from here."

"Hey," Janaff protested, "Wherever our king goes, we go too."

"True," Tibarn agreed. "Without my eyes and ears, I would be opening myself up to an ambush. And certainly, Naesala, you would not want that?"

Naesala cursed inwardly again. Why did Tibarn have to resist so? He glared at him and said, with a touch of sharpness in his voice, "I have endured enough, hawk king, I do not have the mental ability nor the patience to attempt to convince you out of your stubborn ways."

Purely for dramatic effect, Naesala decided to hesitate a bit, as he braced himself to say the next part, "I ask you…please, do as I say."

It was difficult, and required some effort to lower himself to that accursed begging tone of voice, but Naesala could see it worked quite well, as Tibarn appeared taken aback. He thought a while longer, until he finally relented.

"Janaff, Ulki," he commanded, "Stay behind with Nealuchi."

"But-" both protested at once, but Tibarn held up his hand. The two reluctantly obeyed. They stepped back to where Nealuchi stood.

Naesala turned and took wing once more, placing a hand on his chin thoughtfully to conceal a smirk. The plan is working well so far; it only required the timing of a certain somebody now…

They flew above a canyon and into a great depression in the island. Even Janaff would not be able to see through a canyon, and what happened here would stay secret.

Without warning, Naesala felt something whiz by his right wing, just barely scratching it. Grunting, Naesala pretended to be injured, slowly sinking to the ground. He looked up for a moment, noting that Tibarn had already transformed. He screeched twice, and flew over to Naesala.

Naesala cursed in his mind again. He really should put more thought into these schemes; he certainly did not expect Tibarn to call help from Janaff and Ulki. Annoyed, Naesala decided to transform himself.

As his body shrank and blackened with feathers, he could already feel his senses heightening. For one, he could clearly see the assailant in front of him, bow in hand. For another, he could hear the flapping of wings nearing them.

Naesala cawed a few times, signaling that he was mostly uninjured, just caught by surprise. Tibarn did not respond, but proceeded onwards to show that he understood.

It was an interesting way of communication, one that humans certainly would not be able to understand, but natural for the laguz.

Naesala flapped twice and took to the skies, just as Janaff and Ulki reached them. But the journey still tired them, for they could not transform. Tibarn screeched again to acknowledge their presence, and dived towards the assailant.

The assailant smirked as he fit an arrow into his large bow. Before Tibarn could get within two feet, an arrow was shot into Tibarn's left wing, sending him spiraling out of control.

As Tibarn crashed into the ground, the sniper continued to send arrows towards Janaff and Ulki. The two did their best to dodge them, but two arrows found their way through Ulki's chest.

Ulki gasped and coughed a spurt of blood, before sinking to the ground, wings crumpled around him.

"Ulki!" Janaff cried. Naesala dived towards the sniper as well, cawing for Janaff to retreat. Tibarn screeched in accord.

"I'm not leaving you behind, your Majesty. I'll…"

Tibarn screeched again, angrily this time. Janaff, stunned, responded meekly, "As you say, your Majesty. Phoenicis needs you, your Majesty, don't die."

As Janaff fled the battlefield, Naesala dodged the arrows flying towards him. He cawed twice, and increased his speed. The sniper, narrowing his eyes, rolled to the side just as Naesala swooped downwards. As Naesala let his momentum keep him moving upwards, he noticed that he could no longer see Janaff.

_Excellent_, thought he with a smirk. _It's time to end this._

Naesala looped around to come plunging back downwards, but his target was not the sniper this time…

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"I'm sorry, your Majesty," said Janaff to himself, "But I'm not leaving you alone in there."

Swerving around, he transformed himself into a hawk and caught an updraft. He soared above the canyon and spied on the events from his vantage point. And with his eyes, he could clearly see the events unfolding.

Naesala swooped towards the sniper, and the sniper dodged just barely in time. As Naesala flew upwards, Tibarn had, with a great flap, dislodged the arrow from his wing and readied himself to attack again. Janaff cheered inwardly, for the sniper simply could not dodge both Tibarn and Naesala's assaults.

But what he saw next shattered him.

As Tibarn rose up into the air, Naesala came down upon him like lightning. Completely caught off guard, Tibarn swerved just in time, but combined with the momentum destroyed his balance. And, in the half second it took for Tibarn to regain his balance, the sniper fired off two arrows that pierced Tibarn's chest and forehead. He screeched as he plummeted downwards, falling into a crumpled heap.

Screeching in anger, Janaff dived blindly towards the sniper. Naesala was already transforming back, and was shouting something to the sniper. The sniper, who was already fitting an arrow into his bow, scowled and put the arrow back into his quiver.

Janaff, in his blind rage, was unable to strike the sniper, who moved out of the way with ease. As Janaff rose again, he noticed the sky was blackening, but not with night or clouds.

Black wings. The Kilvas crows were above him, all fully transformed, keeping him trapped inside. He felt a sharp pain in his right wing, and saw that it had been pierced by two arrows. He gave one last screech, before sinking to the ground as well.

As he lay there on the ground, he could faintly make out the words, "He'll forget everything," from some drawling tone. He felt something being poured into his beak, and with his last bit of strength, he willed his eyes open.

He saw only the sniper there with his sharp eyes and red ponytail. He focused on the red, which turned from hair into anger, and from anger into blood.

Then red turned black.

End Prologue


	2. 1: Beginnings and Unfurlings

Disclaimer: FEnot mine.

On Black Wings

Chapter 1: Beginnings and Unfurlings

Ike stood in the forest, sword at hand, calmly awaiting his opponent's next move. He pushed his cape behind him and raised his sword in challenge.

"Well then, had enough?"

After that fateful battle, after Ike had gotten his long sought revenge, after Princess Elincia had reclaimed the throne of Crimea from the malevolent hands of King Ashnard, Ike took command of the Greil mercenaries. He kept the name, in order to honor the name of his father. There was little to no difference in the group, except maybe that they were all much more experienced. In fact, Ike found that just two members, or sometimes even just one can take care of an entire mission by themselves. But Ike did not want to risk too much, so it was rare that only one member was sent to a mission.

That Spring morning, only one request had come in, and Ike sent Titania, Gatrie, and Shinon to take care of it. In the meantime, he worked to hone the skills of his ever-eager student. Ike often wondered whether he should consider having a child with someone. After all, who would bear the name of Greil otherwise? And Mia, though always keen on learning Ike's fighting style, has already developed a style of her own that is quite different from what he was taught.

Suddenly, Mia was right in front of him, her sword coming down quickly. Lost in his thoughts, Ike barely dodged Mia's training blade. Now caught off balance, Ike tried to hold himself steady, but Mia advanced far too quickly, pushing him to the ground. Before Ike could get up, Mia lowered her blade to his throat.

Ike chuckled, "Alright, Mia, you win this one."

Grinning, Mia withdrew the sword. "What's the matter, Boss?" she taunted. "You're always telling _me_ to focus on the enemy."

"Sorry that you didn't get your normal spar," said Ike. "Guess I was thinking a bit too much."

"Take it from me, Boss, thinking's not your strong suit," laughed Mia.

Ike was about to retort when a shout of "Commander Ike!" came from the edge of the wood. He turned to see a white horse galloping into the woods bearing Titania in her gleaming armor and a brown horse bearing Rhys in his flowing robes.

"Commander Ike," Titania repeated hurriedly as she drew nearer, reining Oberon, her horse, to a halt. "Come with me. Quickly! Get onto my horse."

As Ike confusedly mounted Titania's horse, Rhys and Mia exchanged greetings. "I told you you'd look dashing on a horse," mumbled Mia.

The two horses turned and trotted out of the forest.

"Rhys, we should hurry. Try to have Akis keep up!" Titania shouted as she brought Oberon into a gallop.

"What's going on?" Ike questioned. "Certainly you didn't have any troubles with the mission? From our intelligence, they couldn't have been any more than simple bandits, and…"

"That's not it," interrupted Titania. She sighed, "Our mission was carried out successfully. But…on the way back, we were ambushed."

"Ambushed?"

"Shinon and Gatrie, they…"

"What?" Ike exclaimed. "They're not dead, are they?"

"No, thankfully," said Titania. "Although I am not entirely sure; I had to retreat, you see. I was horribly injured, but I managed to escape. Rhys found me on the edge of the woods, and he healed me."

"It wasn't a pretty sight, Commander," added Rhys as he drew up his horse near theirs. "She was a bloody mess. It…makes my stomach churn just thinking about it."

"Then don't," said Ike. "Titania, even if you were outnumbered, I trust that the three of you could take on any common bandit. Who could manage to defeat the three of you?"

There was an uncomfortable silence as Titania thought about how to continue. At last, she replied.

"Gallians."

Rhys frowned as Mia's head whirled around in shock. Ike was silent.

"You're kidding, right?" shouted Mia incredulously. "But Crimea is allied with Gallia! Surely they wouldn't…"

"You seem to be forgetting that we are not Crimean mercenaries," interrupted Titania sternly. Her voice softened, "I'm sorry. I sounded like Soren just there, didn't I? But they were definitely Gallians that attacked us. In fact, Lethe was their commanding officer."

"Lethe? Are you sure?" asked Ike.

"She addressed us by our names," said Titania. "She said, 'A most heinous crime has been committed in Laguz lands. Titania and Gatrie: You have committed no crime in the eyes of Gallia and you are free to leave. I'm afraid that Shinon, however, must be detained under Gallian custody until we have gathered enough information to prove him either guilty or not guilty of the crime.' Shinon, of course, acted as he would normally."

"In other words," said Ike grimly, "He called them sub-humans and tried to kill them."

"Naturally," sighed Titania. "They didn't seem to mind too much, though. They only knocked him out. Well, when Gatrie saw that, he thought they killed him. He went ahead and thrust his spear straight through a Laguz, one that was already injured from Shinon. The Laguz died, so Gatrie technically committed a crime as well now. I tried to negotiate, but the Laguz were too infuriated with the death of their comrade. I barely escaped."

"I see. But what crime do they mean?"

"I don't know," responded Titania, "And I wish I did. Hold up, Rhys, we're nearing the area now!"

The two horses neighed and slowed their gallop. As they came to a halt, Ike looked around at his surroundings. He recognized them almost immediately; it was a road close to Ike's first battle with Daien. It cut a path through two edges of a forest, and there were obvious signs of a struggle here. There was dried blood smeared on the ground and many footprints, but no bodies.

"They took them already!" growled Titania. "Ugh, I was hoping that they'd leave at least Gatrie here so that he could tell us what happened!"

"You said they committed a crime?" asked Ike.

"Yes."

"Hmm," Ike pondered for a while. He said at last, "Then they must have taken them to Gallia, but I don't know whether they have a court system there. If it really is a 'most heinous' crime, I suppose we should see King Caineghis about it. At least he would not command anybody to hurt me or you.

"Titania, you and I will ride to Gallia," ordered Ike. "Rhys, Mia, go back to the fort and tell the others where we'll be. Soren's in charge, got it?"

"Wait, Boss, can't I come with you?" protested Mia.

"I'd rather we show up with as little people as possible," explained Ike. "That way, they don't think we're attacking them. We only want to find out what's going on here."

"Come, Mia," said Rhys. "We'll need you defending the fort or doing a mission anyways."

"I guess so," Mia relented. "Alright, let's go."

Akis turned and galloped towards the mercenary fort again while Oberon went the opposite direction. Gallia's borders lay only two leagues away.

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End chapter 1

A/N: Short, I know. Long time, I know. I'll try not to let this happen again (I've been peculiarly busy lately with other writing projects, not school-related or related.)


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